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I just read a reason for the delay that's the best I've seen: It's easier to put a new antenna on your roof in spring and summer than it is in February.

Why would you have to put a new antenna on your roof?

If you rely on OTA television, you already have an antenna. If you don't rely on OTA television, you don't need an antenna.

I suppose there are a handful of people who only have VHF or UHF antennas, and now need to add the other. But most cities in the country have had both VHF and UHF analog transmissions, so anyone who was relying on OTA television for analog, would already have a VHF/UHF antenna.

Upstream, I agree with you in principle but there is a small percentage of those who have antennas that may not only be the wrong type but may also be poorly aimed or have other problems. While the theory was that digital would have better propagation, that's not always the case. I know of at least one person who is able to get reception (albeit poor) from 70 miles in analog but is not able to get digital reception from the same distance without using a larger antenna.

I'm not suggesting we cowtow to these people in any way, only saying that of the (admittedly small) number who have not dealt with this yet, there is an (admittedly smaller) subset who will need to make changes to their antennas.

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The proponents really goofed on this one. Why did they go for a two thirds majority suspended rules vote unless they were sure they had the votes for passage? Were there last moment defectors?

--- CHAS

As someone else alluded to, for the politicians, having the cover with their constituents of being able to say that they voted for the delay is just as good for them (the politicians) as an actual delay.... probably better, considering that the proponents will then get all the benefits of supporting a delay plus the ability to do finger pointing at those who opposed the delay, and by not forcing the issue any further, the delay proponents can also reap the benefits of no delay happening. It's a win, win, win situation for the supposed "losers" in the battle.

If you rely on OTA television, you already have an antenna. If you don't rely on OTA television, you don't need an antenna.

I suppose there are a handful of people who only have VHF or UHF antennas, and now need to add the other. But most cities in the country have had both VHF and UHF analog transmissions, so anyone who was relying on OTA television for analog, would already have a VHF/UHF antenna.

Although I'd still prefer to get the transition over with, I just read a reason for the delay that's the best I've seen: It's easier to put a new antenna on your roof in spring and summer than it is in February. And the major networks are now in favor of the delay because their regular season will be over by then.

Two simple words for those who didn't figure out the DTV transition - Library Card.

Nearly every federal dollar spent on converter boxes goes abroad anyway - are there any that are truly assembled in the USA? I'm all for inclusiveness but by the time we put off the DTV transition there will be millions homeless or evicted. I cannot believe congress would waste time on this.

It should have been scheduled to be switched off precisely seven days before the super bowl. There would still be those who miss out, but many of those six million would have suddenly had a big motivation.

Yes - I sound a bit heartless. Being unemployed for two months will do that for ya.

The only reason why this is a issue is that Obama raised the issue at the beginning of January.

There is a old saying, "Lack of planning on your part does NOT constitute an emergency on my part." The congress people are not aware of the logistics when you change the date so close to a established deadline. There are stations which are dependent on other stations for equipment and frequency changes for non-interference. Look at the headaches that the Denver stations encountered when trying to construct new towers due to the NIMBYs. You cannot establish contracts to construct/tear down towers, then, with construction less than 30 days away, "Sorry, we've decided to postpone." IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY. We even have problems evacuating an entire city within two days due to a hurricane, and that is with established evacuation plans in place.

"In an effort to increase your cable and satellite bills beyond the point of affordability and to further pad the pockets of our executives..."Check out my list of links.

Exactly. While the numbers will likely be pretty small, some percentage of the remaining analog-only households will become DirecTV households because of the analog shutdown, so I say shut-em-down, sooner than later.

True. But while I hope this doesn't get delayed, I don't think we can compare an experienced professional with professional equipment and safety training to a novice DIYer with a ladder, a wrench and only half a clue.

We RVers are probably one of the largest OTA user groups in the CONUS since EVERY motorhome/travel trailer I am familiar with has an OTA (most of which are the Weingard bowtie variety). Everyone I know has dealt with it long ago by either getting a converter box and/or new TV with an ATSC tuner. And most of us are seniors. So WHO ARE the dummies who have sat on their butts and done nothing to help themselves? I will leave the answer to your imagination, gentle reader.

Not a good reason. Millions have been warned for over a year and a half and action should have been taken when they KNEW winter would not be ideal. They knew about it in May, June, July, August, September and October, the typically ideal season to put antenna out or go buy one to put on their antenna. Instead, they sat on their phat lazy butts hoping for a miracle. Coupons? Lame excuse. They can scrounge up a few bucks to save little at a time and buy one. They're really inexpensive and I don't buy that people just didn't have the money, poor economy or not.

Recall that the heavy advertising and promotions did not start until in the fall. Very little time for some people to think and react before bad winter set in.

And RobertE... Would you put a dish on a 40' mast on top of an icy roof? Dishes can go low (some/most of the time. Long distance OTA antennas need to go high.)

This whole thing has already been delayed once, I just wish they could get it over with already. There are so many reasons not to extend it and so few to extend it IMO.

O well, we shall see I guess.

On the distance thing, is it not true that once analog goes off the digital transmitters will be ramped up a bit to increase reception? That is what I heard numerous times from people and it seems logical.

This whole thing has already been delayed once, I just wish they could get it over with already. There are so many reasons not to extend it and so few to extend it IMO.

O well, we shall see I guess.

On the distance thing, is it not true that once analog goes off the digital transmitters will be ramped up a bit to increase reception? That is what I heard numerous times from people and it seems logical.

In some places it is true that the stations will broadcast on more power in the future. (I won't give a date at this point.)

The key is if they are causing interference to existing analog stations. If they might be, the are likely at reduced power. Or if they are going to shift to another frequency, they might be.

But in areas with no interference, a station that isn't shifting is likely at full power now.

We RVers are probably one of the largest OTA user groups in the CONUS since EVERY motorhome/travel trailer I am familiar with has an OTA (most of which are the Weingard bowtie variety). Everyone I know has dealt with it long ago by either getting a converter box and/or new TV with an ATSC tuner. And most of us are seniors. So WHO ARE the dummies who have sat on their butts and done nothing to help themselves? I will leave the answer to your imagination, gentle reader.

The reports I've seen (please don't ask me for URLs...) are that the "unprepared" fall into three sometimes overlapping categories: senior citizens, the poor, and those in rural areas. While I buy some of this, we can all agree that you're never going to get 100% conversion ahead of time. I also suspect that a large number of the TVs not ready are secondary sets in homes where the primary TV is on cable or D/E*.

On I side note, I suspect that in about a month Goodwill is gonna be flooded with old analog TVs.

.................... There are none so blind as those who can not see it in HD........... Directv customer since January 2000...........

The reports I've seen (please don't ask me for URLs...) are that the "unprepared" fall into three sometimes overlapping categories: senior citizens, the poor, and those in rural areas. While I buy some of this, we can all agree that you're never going to get 100% conversion ahead of time. I also suspect that a large number of the TVs not ready are secondary sets in homes where the primary TV is on cable or D/E*.

On I side note, I suspect that in about a month Goodwill is gonna be flooded with old analog TVs.

James Long posted the stats on the top DMAs and houses without any preparations vs. partial preparations. (Sad to see that Salt Lake was higher than I expected, but many in this DMA are really served via translator stations that possibly won't switch immediately.)

To me, the lead up to this February 17 deadline reminds me of how so many people behave regarding Tax Day. Lots of people wait until the last minute to file their taxes, even when they know they may be waiting in super long lines at the post office or dealing with all sorts of other headaches. I even know people who have waited until April 15 to file their taxes even though they knew they were getting a refund. They procrastinate on filling out the forms, even when they know they're going to get some money because the paperwork process seems like "homework" to them.

It takes some effort for people to go through the process of getting those converter box coupons. Maybe some of those affected viewers don't want to deal with the bureaucratic hassle.

I think a lot of people are going to wait until the last minute regardless of whether the deadline is 2/17 or 6/12. When the deadline passes I think we'll see a lot of people merely spending $50 for the converter boxes just to be done with it.

I'm hoping this DTV Delay bill doesn't make it back to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. By the time they manage to do that the February 17 deadline will be just 2 weeks in the future. That's far too little time to suddenly change plans.

Local TV stations have to proceed as if the February 17 deadline is not going to change. More than a few are already so far along with their plans that they at least need the option of shutting off the analog signal after the original deadline.

I heard one claim in another forum that TV stations have budgeted running both DTV and analog signals for all of 2009. Even if the claim was true the current, sorry state of our economy and declining TV ad revenues have cut that budget plan to shreds.

Does anyone have a link or info on the history of the delays in this analog shutdown? I know that this latest attempt wouldn't have been the first (or even second) time that the analogue shutdown was delayed.

May of 2006 was the previous analog signal shut off deadline. But that was pushed to 2/17/09 by a bill passed in 2005. I think that May 2006 deadline was set in the mid 1990s as a 10 year long transition period from the time when major networks began to deliver OTA HD broadcasts.

On the distance thing, is it not true that once analog goes off the digital transmitters will be ramped up a bit to increase reception? That is what I heard numerous times from people and it seems logical.

Many DTV signals are currently being broadcast at low power for 2 reasons. 1: avoiding signal interference with neighboring analog channels. 2: saving money on power costs.

Once a TV station's DTV signal goes to full power it should yield a very noticeable difference on reception quality and stability as well as ability to receive the signal at significantly farther distances. I never could get good reception of our NBC affiliate's analog OTA signal, but I'm getting excellent reception of their full power DTV signal.

To me, the lead up to this February 17 deadline reminds me of how so many people behave regarding Tax Day.

It reminds me of part of last night's debate:

Mr. SHIMKUS.What I did today was I asked when was income tax day enacted into law, 1955. Everyone knows April 15 is the day you pay your taxes. Guess how many people we had not pay their taxes on April 15 last year, 12 million people, advertised, historic, annual.

12 million people don't pay their taxes on time ... under 6 million households are not ready for the digital transition. Let's delay tax day until more people are ready.

But, but ... Isn't the delay being proposed because over 6 million folks want to buy a converter box but can't (for whatever reason)? That hardly sounds like people affected are not in the know.

6 million people.... Those statistics are blown way out of proportion. Besides, 6 million is only 2% of the population of the US.... There's nothing that can be done about it. When people lose their stations they will complain and then they will buy converter boxes. The solution here is to let the issue fix itself.